Quiz 4, Question 2: Brokeback Mountain

"Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film that depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983." The film, which was positively received, also sparked many questions: were the men in the movie homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual? Many critics seemed to think were bisexual but Gyllenhaal, one of the main characters in the film, believed that his character was a heterosexual man who fell in love with another man. Perhaps Judith Butler, a feminist and philosopher, would have felt that the men in this film did not need to label or associate themselves with a particular sexuality. She believed that "sexuality is never fully 'expressed' in the performance or practice", and that every person, regardless of their gender or sexuality will express themselves in a completely individualized way. In Jay Clarkson's article "Contesting Masculinity's Makeover", a website called straightacting.com is referenced. This website "uses online forum to actively resist capitalism influence by denigrating gayness as an identity and reinterpreting the meanings of masculinity." Perhaps users of this website would have believed the two men in Brokeback Mountain were homosexual men who, instead of fitting in the the feminine stereotype of gay men, were very masculine.